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Show eggs, wool and cotton, the price of which to the producer is in most instances less than the pre-war period. peri-od. Why then has there not occurred a corresponding reduction in price to tho consumer? I There is but one reason and answer between the producer and consumer consum-er there aro too many middlemen, too many rchandlings, with cost for each rehandling and profits for each re-handler re-handler pyramided and added into the price to tho consumer. The situation is further aggravated by the inercaso in price made by each dealer as tho commodity passes from one to another on its circuitous pilgrimage to the consumer, the cost and profits assessed in each instance usually being excessive. Of the prico paid by consumers but a small part goes to the producer. Most of the cost of the article is gobbled gob-bled up by commission men, brokers, jobbers, wholesalers, peddlers and what nots. Brokers, commission dealers and jobbers, to cover their trail, attempt to blamo it on railroad rates. But on an orange, lemon, head of lettuce, pound of pork, beef, mutton, asparagus, butter, dozen of eggs or box of berries, where at most the freight charges rarely amount to one cent, the spread in the price between producer and consumer makes it very clear that the cause of low prices to the producer and high to the consumer con-sumer is not freight rates. Instance the retail price of these commodities in Pacific coast markets mar-kets right where they are grown and on much of which there is no rail haul and therefore no freight charge by the railroads as compared with the retail price in Chicago and New York after a rail haul of several thousand miles. Strange isn't it that the price is the same. In other words, a "sun-kissed" California orange retails at five cents in New York after a rail haul of four thousand thou-sand miles. There remains no doubt that failure fail-ure to adjust and co-ordinate our merchandising system, resulting in too many rehandlings, excessive and unnecessary costs and profits, with consequent pyramided cost to the consumer, is largely responsible for inability of producers to sell at a fair margin of profit as well as for the inability of consumers to buy at a fair price. Of course industrial depression incident in-cident to war has lessened greatly the common buying power of the people, a result bound to adversely affect producers regardless of costs or prices, but the great trouble is too many middlemen and too much profiteering. TOO .MANY MIDDLEMEN In many instances producers are receiving less for their products than before the war. Take for example pork, mutton, beef, cereals, butter, |